The Way We Are: How many people read your manuscript?

I'm just guessing here, but I'll bet we all have different approaches when it comes to getting critiques. Maybe you have a critique partner that is so awesome, you don't feel the need to pass on your manuscript to anyone else.

Maybe you have a group of writer friends that you send your manuscript to, either all at once, or one at a time, making changes after each set.

Or maybe you send it to some writers and then to some family members.

Maybe you even send it onto a group of friends who aren't writers, but who are invested in you, and therefore want to read everything you write.

Or maybe you even go for a bigger group of readers.

The point is, no matter where you are in the writing line-- writing to leave something behind for grandkids, writing to self-publish, looking for an agent, on sub to publishers, have an agent and an editor working to publish your first book, have several books out.... You usually go to others

for critiques to catch things that could embarrass you later.

Maybe you just like people reading your book. I get that.

When we're "done," we might all send it different places-- to the printer, to sit on a hard drive while querying agents, or to your agent or editor. The point is, there's a time we call it "done," but we keep our fingers crossed that we aren't REALLY done.

So, here's my question:

How many people do you ask to read your manuscript before you call it "done?"

Here's my answer. For the book I'm getting ready to query, I sent it chapter by chapter each week to my writing group. So +3. I also sent it to my husband and my parents at the same time. +3. At revision three, I couldn't stand waiting any longer to read it to my kids, so +3 more. At revision seven, I sent it to my sister, a friend, and a writer friend.

+3. Revision eight I printed out seven copies and gave to friends / family. Some read it with their kids. I have no idea how many people got that version. Somewhere around +15. Then a teacher I work with read it as a read-aloud to her fourth graders. (Which, btw, coolest experience ever. I even got to be in the room, working with kids one on one while she read. Talk about a fantastic way to spot problems! Especially with someone else's voice doing the reading.) Then I sent revision nine to +3 writer friends. All in all, somewhere around 30, plus a class full of kids. So.. um... apparently a crazy amount of people.

Hmm. After all that, I suddenly went from being curious about everyone's numbers to hoping that someone else sends their book to a crazy amount of people, just to make me feel more normal.

Or maybe your numbers will make someone else feel normal. I'm okay with that, too.